The Eight Worst MCU Post-Credit Scenes

The Marvel Studios post-credit sequences have become famous for a reason. This label didn’t invent placing little sequences throughout the end credits of a theatrical film, but it certainly popularized the practice and forever changed when people walked out of screenings of superhero movies. Still, even with these historical feats, one can’t expect the Marvel Cinematic Universe to have a spotless track record when it comes to post-credits sequences. Inevitably, a few are going to miss the mark. Perhaps even more than a few.

Across movies, short films, and TV shows, the various underwhelming credit scenes of the Marvel Cinematic Universe are surprising in how much they fall short compared to their superior counterparts. Titles like The Avengers make entertaining end-credit scenes look effortless; while other Marvel Studios titles (especially ones released in the 2020s) fall so short. Let’s look at 8 especially poor examples of MCU post-credit sequences and what exactly informed their lackluster quality.

Thor: The Dark World Post-Credit Scene

Once the credits finish rolling, Thor: The Dark World concludes with a small sequence showing Thor returning to Midgard and reuniting with Jane Foster, complete with a smooch between the two. This isn’t necessarily a poor scene in terms of either material or editing, but it is a perplexing decision to relegate it to after the credits. This belongs in the movie proper, given that it concludes key character arcs! Clumsily capping off the scene with a gag about a gigantic Jotunheim beast still running around London just ensures that tonal inconsistency is among the sequence’s many sins.

Eternals Post-Credit Scene

In hindsight, it’s staggering Dane Whitman/Black Knight got more setup than, say, Black Panther or Captain Marvel in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The endless teases about Whitman’s superhero powers in Eternals carried over to the film’s end credits, which saw him debating whether or not to clutch a dangerous mystical sword. It’s hard to imagine this scene being emotionally involved or even coherent to folks who aren’t comic book geeks. Throwing in an abrupt voiceover cameo from Mahershala Ali’s Blade just makes the scene feel extra awkward, now that Marvel’s Blade film is in limbo.

Black Widow Post-Credit Scene

The Black Widow post-credit sequence is works when it just focuses on Yelena visiting the grave of Natasha Romanoff. Having her grave placed underneath some cherry blossoms (the trees Natasha’s birth mother was buried under) is a lovely touch. However, this sequence proceeds to capsize under the sudden introduction of Valentina Allegra de Fontaine (Julia Louis-Dreyfus) making loud snorting and sniffling noises. Shifting suddenly into abrupt humor and teases for the Hawkeye show just totally dilutes the emotional power of this sequence. In the span of a few seconds, Black Widow trades pathos for promoting a streaming service.

Thor: Love and Thunder Mid-Credit Scene

Thor: Love and Thunder’s mid-credits scene returns to an embarrassed Zeus (Russell Crowe) commanding his son Hercules to track down and exact revenge on Thor. It’s already a flimsy little sequence, trying to make Zeus seem like an intimidating threat after his entire onscreen presence was endlessly silly. However, the stunt casting of Brett Goldstein (whose first appearance as Roy Kent in Ted Lasso wasn’t even two years old when Love and Thunder hit theaters) as Hercules is especially eye-roll-inducing. After introducing Starfox and Clea in button scenes for Eternals and Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness before Love and Thunder, throwing Hercules into the MCU mix was insultingly excessive.

[Related: 10 Marvel Post-Credit Scenes That Actually Changed the MCU]

Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania Post-Credit Scene

Movies making room to promote streaming TV shows is just wrong. The latter art form isn’t “inferior”, but theatrical movies shouldn’t exist just to prop up streamers that use the word “content” to describe pieces of art. Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania did just that with a post-credit scene consisting of a Loki Season 2 sequence of Loki and Mobius watching an early 20th-century presentation given by Kang variant Victor Timely. Beyond the scene being an ad for a Disney+ program, it’s also an awkward thing to place at the end of Quantumania. After all, Loki wasn’t involved in the film, so the scene was random to anyone not keeping up with the shows. Plus, Quantumania’s mid-credit scene already showed a plethora of Kang variants, so bringing in Timely wasn’t very special.

Avengers: Age of Ultron Mid-Credit Scene

The Avengers: Age of Ultron mid-credit scene, consisting solely of Thanos putting on that fateful Infinity Gauntlet, isn’t utterly painful to sit through. However, it is a trifle of a scene that just rehashes material related to Thanos already covered in The Avengers and Guardians of the Galaxy. It also feels so disconnected from the events of Age of Ultron that it comes off as unintentionally comedic. Being so forgettable is the greatest sin of this particular Marvel Studios credit sequence misfire.

The Falcon and the Winter Soldier Mid-Credit Scene

Sharon Carter’s presence in The Falcon and the Winter Soldier was endlessly frustrating. By choosing to cloak her character in a frustratingly obvious mystery about whether or not she was evil, deprived her of any interesting concrete characterization in the show itself. A mid-credit sequence during this program’s finale showed Sharon regaining her CIA job while talking to an unseen figure on the phone, and just reinforced the woes of her character arc. Carter’s screentime is dedicated to teasing out future installments, with so much set up it’s impossible to get invested in her as a character. Tragically, this problem intruded onto The Falcon and the Winter Soldier’s end credit sequence.

All Hail the King Post-Credit Scene

Only in the mid-credit scene for the Marvel Studios One-Shot short film All Hail the King will audiences groan at the sight of Sam Rockwell. The actor reprises his role as Justin Hammer in a cameo appearance where he laments how Trevor Slattery is more famous in prison despite the guy never actually facing off against Iron Man. It’s not a bad concept for a mid-credit gag about two Iron Man movie antagonists – except for how the entire scene culminates in a gag revolving around Hammer having a same-sex prison lover. Both gay panic jokes and gags centered on homosexual prison relationships are so old hat that it’s remarkable All Hail the King went back to this depleted well. These uber-familiar forms of humor cap the scene off on a tired and predictable note. Not even Rockwell’s affable screen presence can mitigate that flaw.

You can stream all MCU content on Disney+.